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When then 13-year-old Kaitlynn Fukuhara unwrapped a camera as her Christmas present, her excitement for photography peaked. She was impressed with the quality of her shots, despite having no formal training, but her middle school did not have a photography class that could feed her passion. That all changed when she came to Woodside High, where the digital photography program was exactly what she had been looking for!
“I think it (the photography class) really healed my inner child who always wanted to take pictures,” said Fukuhara, now a junior at the school.
The photography program at Woodside High was started in 2008 by Aaron Campbell who had joined the school as a math teacher in 2005. Soon his own passion for the subject inspired him to advocate for the creation of the program, which quickly became a popular elective.
In its early days, the photography class had only three computers and five cameras, shared among 30 students. Then in 2013, the school built a wing for digital media arts where students can learn photography, animation, audio production, coding and other creative skills.
Today, Campbell teaches his students in a fully equipped digital photography lab, complete with Canon DSLRs, a variety of lenses, tripods and around 30 computers for editing.
“The kids love it. I love it because it’s a passion of mine,” he said. “So sharing that with the kids is just a dream come true.”
He currently teaches four foundational photography classes and one advanced class, each with about 30 students. The curriculum begins with the fundamentals of art and composition.
During the first month, students shoot black-and-white photos on their phones. According to Campbell, viewing the world in black and white helps students focus on shapes, lines and forms, strengthening their understanding of composition. Once they have mastered these concepts, they transition to shooting in color with digital single-lens reflex, or DSLR cameras, learning the technical aspects of photography, including shutter speed, aperture and other adjustments. Students also learn how to work with different lenses for capturing diverse scenarios like sports, wildlife and motion photography.
Campbell believes that half of the job of a professional photographer is editing. So on any given day, half the class is out shooting while the other half edits their previously shot pictures using Adobe Suite.
One of his favorite class projects is macro photography where students get detailed shots of flowers, bugs or bees, standing just a foot away from the subjects.
“They are just blown away by the quality of their photos,” he added. “And when I see the excitement in their eyes, it gets me excited too.”
For Fukuhara, the best part of the class is the freedom and flexibility it offers, allowing students to shoot the things that interest them the most. She has used this creative freedom to capture images of her favorite sports like volleyball.
She wants to be a psychology major in the future but plans to carry photography with her as a hobby throughout her life, practicing the skills she is learning at Woodside.
